For over a dozen years,
NSPG has been providing the tools that allow contractors to
increase profits and minimize business hassles. With our
simple-to-use-tools, you can make being a business owner
what you always wanted to it be -
successful, profitable and rewarding.
Good Business Practices
This past month brought a wide range of flat rate and
business success stories our way. So, instead of a
single article, we'll combine a few observations and
some advice on how successful businesses do things that
you can apply to your business.
Rick Newman, the business writer at
usnews.com, had an interesting article about a
recent Bruce
Springsteen concert.
It's hard to see how a concert by a 58 year old rock
star could apply to our industry, but he makes several
good points that are relevant to just about any
business.
In the article he talks about how Bruce does the things
successful businesses try to do every day. Things
like:
He talks about Springsteen innovating in the way he
presents his music. He adds new interpretations of
old songs, add new instruments to the mix, changes the
tempo and tenor of some songs to enhance and update
them.
These are the same types of changes that
successful businesses make every day. They add new
products, move into new markets, change how they do
things to take advantage of current fashion and
technology. They push the envelope to stay fresh
and attractive to their customer base. Click on
Bruce's picture to see the whole article.
Many of you know Mike Conroy here at NSPG. While
he's not nearly as old as Bruce is, he's always looking
to push the limit and make the changes needed for
success. Back in
September of 2005 we wrote about his extensive wine
making hobby. Last year, Mike decided he needed a
more active outlet for his creative and competitive
instincts. He took up kite boarding.
In May, while Mike was still early in the learning phase
of the sport, we reported on his chosen sport, how it
related to his attitude about getting down to business,
and, especially, determining your own profitable selling
price and overcoming your fear of raising your prices to
your profitable level. Here's a bit of what
he had to say in May.
 My real goal is to kite in the ocean and surf
the waves. This is quite a bit different from the bay
because I'll have a third variable to deal with - big
waves crashing into me. My fear of failure in the ocean
held me back from my goal. My fear of injury or even
death held me back from fully committing to a move from
the bay to the ocean.
So here I go, I take a few steps into the ocean and
the waves are breaking on me and knocking me back onto
the beach. Every time I try a get out I get knocked
back. One reason is that I was not fully committed to
getting past the breaking waves. At some point I
gathered the strength to fully dive the kite, and pull
myself out past the breaking waves.
The
only way get out past the breaking waves was to fully
commit and go full steam ahead. Well when I finally got
past the rough breaking waves, the water was calm and
serene. This time I was on top of the breaking waves,
not getting crushed by them.
So my message to you is: fully commit to your
pricing. You know it's right. Take a few breaking waves,
and get past them to business serenity. If you need a
little help in reaching your business goals, give me a
call. We all need a bit of help from time to time.
Success is waiting..
This month we also heard about another example of that can-do
attitude, and the willingness to try something new to
achieve your success in an industry just about as far
from ours as you can get. An NSPG employee took a cruise
on Norwegian Cruise Lines this past month.
NCL has broken from the long standing cruise tradition
with their "Free Style" cruising. Essentially this
is just an elimination of the regimented meal and
entertainment times. On a cruise in the past, you
at dinner when they told you to at the same table with
the same passengers every night. This meant that
you had the same conversations, same waiters, same
everything each day of the cruise.
Under this old scheme, you were also expected to tip the
staff a set amount ($20 per day per passenger) for the
cruise. The idea was probably to assure the best
service because at the end of the cruise, you would be
tipping the staff based on how well they did. This
was always a hassle on the last day running around
giving out tips. It also made it seem like the
only reason the staff did anything for you was because
you might tip them.
 Well, NCL has gone Flat Rate. They include the tip
in your room charges at the rate they set. When
you get on board, you know what it will cost, except for
alcohol. No surprises, no hassles. Since you
will not be directly tipping, the staff is free to work at
whatever level they choose because they get paid the
same amount anyway.
So, what was the service like? Excellent! Of
the hundreds of employees on the ship, they saw only a
couple who did not smile and say hello every day.
Going the extra mile was the rule, not the exception.
When you asked a question, the response was not only to
answer the question, but to guide you to whatever you
needed. It was like these employees were
professionals and knew that their primary job was to
meet and exceed the traveler's expectations.
Are your employees trained and motivated to exceed
expectations?
The entire cruise, except for customs at both ends, was
a living illustration of how to run a business.
The simplicity of Flat Rate pricing combine with
professional service is how all businesses should work.
This is the way to run a business that will easily grow
through word of mouth.
Give Mike Conroy a call to discuss your
numbers, your flat rate books, or finding resources to
help you bring this type
of professionalism to your own business.
He always enjoys dispensing the knowledge he has
acquired talking to successful business owners around
the world.
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On-Line
Resources
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Twin brothers retire after almost 50 years each on the
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130 Year Old Plumbing Business
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time?
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